Review: Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS

Image Quality

Ohio Statehouse – Sony a6000 with Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS @ f/4.5

Sharpness

Most prime lenses tend to be quite good performers with regards to image sharpness, and the 35mm f/1.8 OSS is no exception. Images at f/1.8 are quite sharp in the center and even acceptable on the image borders. No resolution records are going to be set at this aperture, but there is more than enough resolving power for most situations.

When stopped down, there is nothing to complain about. Images are extremely sharp in the center and still very good all the way to the corners of the frame, and this holds when focusing at any point throughout the focus range. The lens does a wonderful job for landscapes or times you need high-resolution across the image frame. Click on the image to the right and then on the green arrow at the bottom to view large and examine the sharpness you can expect from this lens.

Bokeh

The Sony 35mm f/1.8 does a very nice job in most situations with regards to bokeh. While f/1.8 isn’t blazing fast for a normal prime, it’s certainly wide enough to throw backgrounds pleasingly out of focus at short and mid-range focus distances. The bokeh produced by the lens is quite smooth at closer focus distances and only has a bit of nervousness a bit further away.

The bokeh isn’t perfect, however. As I’ll discuss further below, out of focus highlights can take on a green outline in some situations, and in the right circumstances, small ‘points’ can appear on specular highlights as shown in the image below. However, in the vast majority of shooting situations, the lens produces quite pleasing blurred backgrounds.

Presents – Sony a6000 with Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS @ f/1.8

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration

The Sony 35mm f/1.8 produces images with excellent contrast at smaller apertures and moderate contrast at f/1.8. This makes it a good choice for environmental portraiture, where harsh contrast can sometimes be undesirable, as well as a nice choice for landscapes and street shooting where higher contrast might be preferred. Color is neutrally rendered and takes adjustment well.

There is very minimal lateral chromatic aberration present, but it’s quite easily correctable in any post-processing software. Longitudinal chromatic aberration does show, however, with green shading behind the focus point and a reddish tint to out of focus areas in front of the focus point. In some situations this will show up in the bokeh as noted above, but only tends to be objectionable when out of focus areas are backlit or very high in contrast.

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting

The 35mm f/1.8 exhibits some mild barrel distortion, but the degree is minor. Only in compositions heavy on straight lines will the distortion become noticeable, and is easily fixed in your post-processing workflow.

The 35mm f/1.8 has only mediocre performance against bright light. When the sun or a bright light source is near the edge of the frame, the lens does fairly well, but as that source moves towards the inner 1/3 of the image frame, rather bright green ghosting can occur. It’s very easy to see in the viewfinder, so keep an eye out for it and adjust the composition as necessary if you want to avoid flare.

Overall image quality is on a rather high level. While not among the finest optics I’ve shot with, there are no real dealbreakers either. The lens produces sharp images with good bokeh, nice contrast and relatively minor aberrations.

33 thoughts on “Review: Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS”

interesting review! I personally find 35mm on APSC somewhere in between. It is still not wide enough to capture more than one person, but not tele enough to focus more on portrait. The SEL50 IMHO has nicer bokeh and rendering. However, you also have the Fuji 35/1.4 and showed nice portraits with that. Guess I am more of an candidate for the SEL24, but that is without OSS and even used expensive. Hmm….
What is your preferred focal length?

I’ve always really liked the normal focal length – it’s a good general purpose length, though it of course has its limitations. I was, for a long time, one who preferred the 50/100mm (FF equiv) field of view for two main primes, but I’ve grown to quite like the 35/85 doublet. As such, I often carry the 23/1.4 and 56/1.2 on my Fuji cameras, though I like to shoot with the 35mm on APS-C as well, enjoying both the 35/1.8 on my a6000 and the Fuji 35/1.4 on my Fuji bodies. On m4/3, I loved the Panasonic 25/1.4, so still in that ~50mm equivalent range.

As time has gone on, especially as I test a lot of different lenses for this site, I’ve become a lot more adept at adjusting how I approach a subject based on what lens I have, as well as the converse: adjusting my framing and positioning and then choosing the lens (my preferred method when shooting for myself).

Thanks for another great review! I am considering buying this lens but am concerned about the longitudinal chromatic aberration. I like to expose to the right, often blowing out the background, so how problematic is the longitudinal CA likely to be for me at wider apertures? Thanks again.

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I only recently bought my first SLR camera, the Sony a5000 this year (which comes with a 16-50mm/3.5-5.6) and want to buy my second lens for it. I am considering this lens, as I have read elsewhere it’s a great ‘second lens’ choice, but it is pricey.

I have also read you review for the Sigma 19mm f/2.8, and it’s lower price make it more attractive, naturally. But I cannot find an example of these lenses compared side-by-side.
All I know for definite is that I want a larger aperture, which both of these offer.

Does the extra spec and aperture size of this lens warrant the heftier price-tag, in your opinion? I am a total amateur and I want to expand the range of photographs I can take, and I don’t know which lens offers me the most interesting options to further develop my photography.

Apologies for long message, if anyone has advice it would be much appreciated!

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